Hyperfocal Distance Calculator

What Is the Hyperfocal Distance?

The hyperfocal distance is the closest focusing distance at which a lens can be set while keeping objects at infinity acceptably sharp. When a lens is focused at the hyperfocal distance, everything from half that distance all the way to infinity falls within the depth of field — producing the maximum possible sharpness for a given focal length, aperture, and sensor.

Hyperfocal focusing is a core technique in documentary, landscape, and run-and-gun cinematography — anywhere you need maximum depth without pulling focus.

Computing Hyperfocal Distance

Given focal length f (mm), aperture f-number N, and circle of confusion c (mm):

The result H is in mm — divide by 1 000 to get metres. Once focused at H, everything from H / 2 to ∞ is within the acceptable depth of field.

Computing the Required Aperture

If you already know the focus distance S you want and need the aperture that makes it the hyperfocal point:

where S is in mm. Useful when scouting a location: set focus at a real-world reference point and find the exact f-stop that maximises depth from that point outward.

Circle of Confusion Reference

The CoC is computed as the sensor diagonal divided by 1 500, a cinema-standard constant. Select a sensor preset above to auto-fill the correct value.